Iart Luca Shytaj (born 3 February 1986) is an Albanian and Italian
chess grandmaster
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...
and
virologist
Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, the ...
.
Chess career
Born on 3 February 1986, Shytaj won the
Albanian Chess Championship The Albanian Chess Championship is the annual individual national chess championship of Albania. The first tournament took place in 1933. A separate championship for women has been held since 1977.
Winners
:
Open champions by number of titles
Wo ...
in 2003. He earned his
international master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
norm
Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to:
In academic disciplines
* Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad
* Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock
* Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...
at the Arctic Chess Challenge in August 2009, his second during the 2016/17
Chess Bundesliga
The term Chess Bundesliga () normally refers to the premier league of team chess in Germany established in 1980. It is arguably the strongest league of its kind and attracts many high-rated grandmasters.
Austria also has a Bundesliga for chess, u ...
season, and his third at the Mulhouse Festival in July 2018. He was awarded the title in October 2018. He is the 14th Italian player to achieve the title of GM.
Shytaj represented Albania at the 36th and
37th Chess Olympiad
The 37th Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed ...
s, and Italy at the
38th Chess Olympiad
The 38th Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place from 12 to 25 November 2008 in Dresden, Germany. There were 146 teams ...
.
Scientific career
Shytaj received a bachelor's degree in biology from the
Sapienza University of Rome
The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...
, and a master's degree in genetics and molecular biology from the same university. His Ph.D. thesis, which resulted in a functional cure of
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
in
macaque
The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe (in Gibraltar). Macaques are principally f ...
s, was named as one of the three best presentations at HIV Dart 2012, an international conference on drug development processes in
antiretroviral
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of mu ...
research. As of 2017, Shytaj works at
Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...
.
Personal life
Shytaj was born in
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...
. He moved to Italy with his parents at age six, and he became an Italian citizen in 2007. He married German GM
Elisabeth Pähtz
Elisabeth Pähtz (born January 8, 1985, sometimes spelt Elisabeth Paehtz) is a German chess Grandmaster.ELISABETH PÄHTZ HAT GEHEIRATET German Chess Federation They separated in 2018.